Scathing Moon Rising
by KuroiTori-sama
Summary: He was a runaway royal guard, and a badass from hell, but she found a way to touch his heart. She changed him. And now, just so that he could stay by her side, he will take on the world.
1. Chapter 1: Enter! Kurosaki Isshin!

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach**_

Rating T (I guess, I'm never good at determining this stuff…

Summary: He was a runaway royal guard, and a badass from hell, but she found a way to touch his heart. She changed him. And now, just so that he could stay by her side, he will take on the world.

Pairings: Isshin/Masaki.

Mini author note:

"Hollow" – normal talking in the outside world (anywhere other than Isshin's inner world) and Isshin talking inside the his inner world

'_Hollow'_ – Isshin thinking

'_**Hollow'**_– Zanpakutou talking to Isshin while Isshin is in the outside world. Zanpakutou thinking in the inner world.

"**Hollow" –**Zanpakutou talking.

(Hope this wasn't too confusing, roll for it!)

**-Scathing Moon Rising-**

Chapter one – Enter: Kurosaki Isshin!

It was another moonless October night. The heavy clouds covered the sity of Karakura, and lightnings tore across its sky.

High above ground, two figures fought.

"Ready to give up now, 'hero'?" A woman dressed in a black Shihakushō taunted, mockingly, as she disappeared from the man's sight, only to reappear behind him.

The black haired shinigami dodged to the right, as an oversized claymore swooshed pass his left shoulder, grazing the skin. The man lashed outward with his zanpakutou. She blocked with the broad side of her blade, then raised her left hand, with palm stretched out towards him.

The man instinctively jumped back.

"Gotcha there!" The red-haired woman laughed, as she pointed her palm at the ground. The man couldn't see her face, since a bone mask hid it, but he could tell that she was having the time of her life.

And that pissed him off greatly.

"Sure you wanna do that? Fire a Cero at the town, and there'll be no going back."

Her palm glowed red.

"CERO!"

A column of destruction exploded towards the unsuspecting people of the town below. Seconds later, in a blinding flash it detonated.

The woman scoffed, but her feeling of triumph didn't last long. Once the smoke cleared, she saw the young shinigami standing some twenty meters above the ground. His arms seemed burnt, and most of the top of his Shihakushō was now ash. Even though he coughed blood, he had a wicked grin on his face, like he was sure of the outcome.

"Some hero you are, getting your ass blown up like that!" She mocked. Her eyes went wide behind her mask, as his zanpakutou buried itself into her chest. "Fuck!" She screamed, coughing blood.

"There's a reason Vasto Lorde are to stay in Hueco Mundo, you know." He whispered in her ear.

"Fuck you!" She yelled out, at the same time trying to bite into his jugular. He moved his head a bit further away. She swung her claymore at him, but he caught her wrist with his hand. "Fuck you asshole! Vasto lorde are stronger than any shinginami!"

Their eyes meet.

In them, she saw an ocean of power, just boiling to get out, to wash over her like a tide, and erase her from existence. Suddenly, as realization struck her, she started to struggle – no longer bent on killing the man, but to get away, back to the Hueco Mundo. She knew he wouldn't pursue her if she were to get inside a garganta. She tried to punch him in the face, to break away, but he simply moved his head out of the way, then twisted his blade, which was still lodged in her chest.

The hollow let out a harrowing scream.

"That's for killing my partner and taking his Shihakushō." He said with a smile, then ripped the blade out, cutting through her side.

She plummeted to the ground.

"Eh? Done already?" The man asked. "Boring~!" He shunpoed down.

The Vasto Lorde was crawling on her arms and knees. As he walked closer, he could see that the left side of her mask had broke away, revealing her pale face, now smeared in blood.

He stepped in front of her, then kneeled.

"Who… Who the fuck are you?" The hollow asked.

"Isn't that obvious?" He asked, leaning forward. As he did so, she noticed a small silver pendant, suspended on a silver chain around his neck.

She saw the kanji that was engraved in it. Her eyes went wide with horror, as she read it.

"W-Who…?"

He pressed his finger on her lips.

"Kurosaki Isshin, Royal Guard…" He said cheerfully, as if he had just made a friend. The hollow stared at the silver pendant, like it was a marking of the messenger of hell. He then whispered a single word. "Byakurai…"

O-O-O

"Well, that's the end of that…" Isshin muttered silently, as he returned into his gigai. Picking up the umbrella he left lying beside the artificial body, he opened it, just as the first raindrops fell. With his other hand he took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, then pulled one cigarette out of it with his teeth. Putting back the rest of them in his pocket, he got out a pack of matches.

Seconds later, a small cloud of smoke enveloped his face, as he sighed in relief. As he walked by a store, he saw his cleanly shaved face.

'_Heh, I knew I looked better with a beard…'_ He let out another puff of smoke. He pulled up an exact copy of the pendant he wore when he moved like a shinigami, looking at it with a smile.

'_Good thing I remembered to bring this thing with me…_' He chuckled, knowing that he just managed to outsmart his trackers again.

Ever since Kurosaki Isshin deserted from the Royal Guard, his superiors, namely the Zero Division, had sent trackers to hunt him down and bring him back. At first, it was no biggie. Isshin could easily outrun and, whenever there was a fight, overpower them.

And for full three months, he was doing just fine. It was only now that his superiors smartened up, and showed up themselves.

Isshin still remembered when he first set his eyes on one of the thirteen elite guard a few days ago. She was the former taicho of the Twelfth division, Hikifune Kirio. Seeing her was enough for him to shit his pants.

He stopped at a street crossing, waiting to get a green light.

"It's one hell of a miracle I got to keep my head that day." He muttered. Kirio was one freakishly frightening woman.

After that incident, he decided to flash his pendulant in front of any hollow he was about to kill, and to make it as theatrical as possible, so that the memory of the image of the Zero Division's insignia would remain burnt into the mind of the hollow, should the Royal Guard ever decide to do an autopsy – and memory scanning was one of the many procedures they performed.

Also, keeping constantly on the move helped to keep him off the radar.

He chuckled as he let out another big whiff of smoke. Two young women that passed him, giggled. As they stepped inside of a bar, they gave him a small wave.

Isshin raised his eyebrow.

'_Why not?'_

O-O-O

As sunlight broke through the window blinds, Isshin groaned, closing his eyes as tight as he could, burying his face into the pillows.

"Ah… fuck… That's why not…" He opened his eyes, slowly, and looked around the room.

Hangover is a bitch.

'_Ohhh, my head…'_ He sat up, shaking his head. As he looked down, he realized that he was stark naked.

"How much did I drink last night?" He tried to rub his forehead, but realized that his right arm was handcuffed to the bed. _'Do I even wanna know?'_ He saw a whip on the nightstand.

Next to him, both young ladies laid asleep, just as naked as he was.

"Ahhh… shit." He chuckled as he laid back down on the bed. With his hand cuffed, he wasn't going anywhere – why not enjoy it?

O-O-O

Miyamoto Musashi stood on the top of Tokyo Tower. With a perpetual frown, he observed the metropolis beneath him. He wore a standard shingami Shihakushō, and over it, he wore a white haori with the insignia of the Royal Guard -零. On his right shoulder, he had a steel shoulder-guard, which was engraved with the symbol Two that represented his position in the Guard.

"Awfully lonely up here, isn't it, Miyamoto?" Asked the young looking man that walked up behind him. Miyamoto looked over his shoulder. The younger man had long, curly blond hair, along with a pair of blue eyes. His face clearly indicated that he was not from Japan.

"Achilles." Miyamoto named the man.

Achilles chuckled. "You know, you're gonna have to get used to having foreigners in the Guard sooner or later." Miyamoto looked away. "I mean, It's not like I've been in the Guard longer than you…" Achilles grinned. "Actually, now that I think of it…"

"Shut up." Miyamoto said. He well knew that Achilles was the oldest member of the infamous Zero Squad, second to only the Captain-commander of the entire Guard, the only person to outrank Miyamoto. Along with the Captain-commander who held the first seat, he and Achilles who was fourth seat, there were ten more warriors, who together formed the Zero Squad. Those beneath were just Guardsmen.

"Do we know where that good-for-nothing fifteenth seat went to this time?" he asked.

"Who?" Achilles asked. "Oh, you mean Kurosaki?" He smiled. "Not that far from here, to say the truth. He's in Karakura."

"Excellent. Send twelfth and fourteenth to take him down."

Achilles turned to leave.

"Sure thing boss."

O-O-O

People gave Isshin strange looks, as he walked past them. He rubbed his sore cheek, painfully aware of the palm-shaped bruise on it. He laughed, then pulled out and light another cigarette. He was heading towards one place he knew he could get what he needed – Urahara's shop. That was the name the local shinigami gave him, when Isshin slapped him senseless. It was the unofficial place where the shinigami went to whenever they needed gear or supplies when they operated somewhere on the territory of Japan. Truth be said, there was another shop in Tokyo center, but since this Urahara guy was an underground character, his prices were cheaper – not to mention that, since the guy was on the run from Soul Society himself, he wouldn't report Isshin, should he go there.

He stated to whistle.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, he stood in front of a small wooden store, with large sign saying 'Urahara Shoten'.

Isshin walked up to the door, than knocked. He was very surprised when a short, black-haired kid opened the door.

"Are you Urahara?" Isshin asked.

The boy yawned, then turned around and walked back inside.

"Boss! You got a customer!"

A man with messy blond hair emerged from a small opening in the floor – probably a hatch that lead to the basement, Isshin thought. Amusingly, he had a striped bucket hat on that hid his gray eyes within a shadow, making him look mysterious, but comical at the same time.

"Mornin' shinigami~san~!"

When Urahara pulled out and opened a small green fan, Isshin jumped forward slamming his elbow into the man.

Urahara stumbled back then grabbed his cane with his right hand – with his left he grabbed his face.

"I can't believe I got an elbow in the face! And this early in the morning!" He muttered out through his hand, as his nose started to bleed. "What's your problem?"

Isshin grinned nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry 'bout that… The last person to pull out a fan at me had poison darts hidden in it."

Urahara nodded with understanding.

"So… Omnitsukidō's after you, then? Didn't expect to see a fellow renegade this early in the morning… C'mon in."

As Isshin followed the geta-bōshi into the shop, he realized that there was a black cat giving him the suspicious look.

"What? Want milk?" He scoffed, then threw the cigarette butt at the animal. The cat simply moved its head out of the way – the rest of its body remained perfectly still.

'_Okay… That__… __was creepy…' _Isshin thought to himself.

He continued to walk after Urahara, but no matter what, he couldn't shake the feeling that the odd cat was still watching him.

O-O-O

A young man walked down busy street. His clothes were a mixture of white and blue, and his hair was dark brown, with a few gray strands here and there. On his face, he wore a pair of glasses. On his back, he carried a student's backpack. His name was Ishida Ryūken, and he was a student of medicine, spending his days in his studies, so that he could save lives one day.

But today was not one of those days.

Today, the one that swore to protect the sanctity of life was out hunting.

Hollows and shinigami – the dead made little difference to him. Hidden in the sleeve of his right hand, a small cross hung off of a silver chain bracelet. It was this tiny trinket that made the man such a force to be reckoned with. It was a cross of the Quincy, a powerful hollow-slaying artifact, of unsurpassed craftsmanship quality, the ways of its creation long lost to the winds of time.

Ryūken could feel the presence of over thirteen hollows, several blocks away in the Karakura city park. But there was no reason for him to hurry; the hollows were well occupied by the three shinigami that tried to stop them. Not that they were that successful at it, with one of the shinigami getting devoured that very moment, and the other two obviously exhausted and about to become meals themselves.

He knew that Soul Society would send reinforcements to relieve the small team – but they wouldn't get there before he does.

Quickening his pace ever so slightly, he continued in the direction of the battle.

O-O-O

"Dodge! Mitō-san!" One of the shinigami yelled out. The shinigami in question, Mitō did his best to comply, but screamed as the hollow's claw tore through his sword arm. He was quickly swarmed by five hollows and immediately torn to shreds.

"Mitō-san!" The petite girl screamed, seeing her friend's demise. She stretched out her hands, holding her zanpakutou in front of her, with its tip pointing at the ground.

"Hadō no go-jū hachi, Tenran!" As soon as she finished spell, a large whirlwind funnel shot from the sword to the cluster of hollows, who were still feeding off of her friend. The blast tore all five of them to shreds.

The girl sighed, but then screamed in pain, as her left hand was bitten off by a large crocodile-like hollow.

"Hadoō san-jū ichi, Shakkahō!" The hollow was instantly destroyed by the explosion.

The girl fell to her knees, gripping the bleeding stump of her arm, crying. Her partner, ran to her side, readying his zanpakutou.

The hollow's encircled them.

"Matsuri." He called out her name.

"Nii-san…" She answered back, watching at her brother's back through teary eyes.

"I have to release my zanpakutou…"

The girl waved her head. "But you've only learned its name a week ago, Fujimaru-nii-san!"

The teen chuckled darkly.

"Got a better idea?" He swallowed down hard, tightening his grip on the zanpakutou's hilt. He raised his zanpakutou in the air. "Hirameke…"

O-O-O

Isshin stood on top of a building overlooking the park, observing the young shinigami struggling to survive the onslaught of the overwhelming number of hollows. At one point, he felt like applauding to the short blond girl, when she managed to take out a number of hollows in a single strike, only to wince when he saw her loose her arm.

'_Shit…'_ he thought to himself,_ 'Isshin… why'd ya have to be such a sucker when girls are concerned?' _He unsheathed his zanpakutou. Despite its appearance, it was one of the few zanpakutou that were in full-time release, 24/7.

'_Just one swing… Just one swing and I'm done.'_ He tried to reason with himself. _'I won't risk appearing on either the Soul Society's or Royal Guard's radar. So, just one swing…'_

He raised his zanpakutou, Engetsu, high into the air, then visualized his target. The girl screamed and the boy raised his zanpakutou, as the hollows pounced at them.

Isshin slashed down seven times.

When he looked down at the park, he saw the two young shinigami franticly looking around themselves, as the entire park became covered in seven deep canyons.

Isshin bit his lip, shutting his eyes.

"_Woops…"_

O-O-O

Half an hour later, the park was swarming with shinigami of all ranks, as both the reinforcements and medical officers arrived to the field, accompanied by a substantial number of Omnitsukidō's operatives that were actively searching the surrounding city blocks in an attempt to locate the cause of the canyons. The leader of the reinforcements approached the two wounded shinigami. When the two medical officers of the Fourth Division stood up to live, he told them to stay. They immediately did so, and returned to their attempts to restore the girl's left arm. The boy that sat next to her also had several injuries on his body, but none were life-threatening, and were already taken care of.

The commanding officer kneeled in front of the blond boy. He was pale skinned, and he had spiky raven-back hair, and aqua-green eyes.

"How are you feeling, Kudō Fujimaru?" He asked with a small smile.

"I-I'm feeling… better." The boy bowed down, only to have the officer grab him by the hair and pull him back up out of the bow.

"What did I tell you 'bout doing that sorta thing, Fujimaru?"

"Sorry, Shiba-fukutaicho! It won't happen again!"

"You're doing it again, asshole!"

The boy winced.

"Sorry, Kaien-dono."

"Psh… ahhh, forget it." Kaien sat down on a small pillow one of the shinigami that were present handed to him. "So, Fujimaru… What can you tell me about your little case of 'divine intervention'?"

"It came out of nowhere, Kaien-dono." Matsuri said, diverting everyone's attention onto herself.

"Did you recognize the reiatsu?" Kaien asked.

"No, Kaien-dono… We did not."

Kaien rubbed his chin, than asked another question.

"I know your brother isn't very good at this but, if you ever encountered it again, could you recognize it?"

"I'm sorry, Kaien-dono." Fujimaru raised his eyebrow, giving her a surprised look, but said nothing. "I'm afraid that with my injury, I wasn't able to memorize the reiatsu since it lasted for only a few seconds."

Kaien gave them a disappointed look, but then smiled and ruffed their hair.

"Don't worry yourselves about it anymore. For your first mission in the living world, you two did great." He stopped, as if he was thinking.

"You know, I just realized that this town no longer has a shinigami stationed here anymore. I think I'll assign…" He looked down at them, noticing that they were giving him pleading looks. "I WASN'T GONNA SEPARATE YOU!" He quickly yelled, shaking his head. "Seriously, you kids these days…" lowering the tone of his voice back to normal, he continued, "What I was gonna say was that I'm going to assign the two of you to be its temporary shinigami – after you recover!" he quickly added.

Seeing the happy smiles on the twins faces, Kaien smiled at them, then turned around and left.

…

Once the twins were finally alone, Fujimaru turned towards his sister.

"Why'd you lie to him, Matsuri? There's no way a pro like you would fail to remember someone's reiatsu once you felt it!"

The girl looked at the ground at her feet, embarrassed that her brother had seen through her lie so quickly. That didn't stop the small blush form appearing, as she heard him praise her skills.

"Nii-san, you've seen the Omnitsukidō's operatives here, right? Why are they here?" She asked.

Fujimaru shrugged.

"That's my point! It's just a hunch, but I think that they are after whoever saved us… and I don't want to be the bitch that repays people like that…" She looked her brother in the eyes. "What are you going to do now, Fujimaru-nii-san?"

The boy held his head in his hands, groaning.

"Damn it! I hate lying to Kaien-dono!"

The girl nodded.

"I know." She said. "I hate it too…"

"But you're right this time, Matsuri. I don't want to be that type of trash either…"

She took her brother's hand.

"So, what will we do now?"

He smiled, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"Easy! We'll just have to find the person who did it ourselves!"

O-O-O

All the time the shinigami occupied the park, Ishida Ryūken stood at its edge, keeping his reiatsu signature to its absolute minimum, while standing in a large crowd that was observing the geologists trying to piece things together, oblivious of the number of shinigami that were conducting their own investigation at the same time.

'_Damn, this is going nowhere!'_ He listened to a reporter that stood close to him, as the man gave his report, blubbering on about everything from localized earthquakes to alien invasions.

"I thought I might find you here, Ryūken."

Ryūken turned to face the person.

"Sōken."

The older man chuckled.

"Why are you addressing your own father in such an unrespectful manner?" Seeing Ryūken frown, Sōken smiled. "Don't worry about it, I did the same to my father when I was your age," he said, "but make sure you remember this moment when your own son does the same to you."

Ryūken scoffed.

"Not like I'm getting married any time soon, old man. Are you getting senile in your old age?" His father continued to smile, as if he was unaffected by Ryūken's words.

"Perhaps you're not… but life is like a book. Once you turn the page, you never know that you'll find." He watched as his son turned to leave. "Where are you going, Ryūken?"

"Whoever saved those two shinigami was definitely not with the reinforcements of Soul Society. I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

Sōken sighed, giving up.

"Just try not to get to the bottom of the river, son."

O-O-O

_(That evening…)_

Isshin waltzed inside Urahara's shop, brushing off the red lipstick marks that he had on his cheek, as a group of his new found drinking friends dropped him off. Before he closed the door behind him, he gave them a wave goodbye and walked inside. He walked through the store, and went to the back of the shop, where Urahara lived.

"Oi! Geta-bōshi!" No one answered. "Where are ya, Bucket-hat?" The cat that he saw earlier that day was still there, lying under the window. Its yellow eyes followed Isshin whenever he would enter the room, creeping him out.

"What's matter, lost something, fourteenth-san?"

Isshin didn't waste time trying to find the source of the voice that spoke out of the dark, but immediately ejected himself out of his gigai and drew Engetsu. He recognized the voice.

"Fourteenth-san…" he replied. Out of the darkness he heard a chuckle. "Saeko-san? Why don't you step out into the light, so that we can have a toast? I know you've missed me…" Instantly, he felt a sharp pain below his right knee, and the warm, sticky liquid that began to soak his Shihakushō.

The woman laughed cheerfully.

"Sure, I'll step out… But we'll have to postpone the celebration until after my job is complete."

Isshin decided to play dumb.

"And what that might be, darling?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Isshin felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck, as he heard the sound of a zanpakutou being drawn. He gulped down.

'_Her zanpakutou uses shadows… and she outranks me in the reiatsu department… Guess I'll have to play dirty for now…'_

"Then why don't we at least loose this shadowy environment, so that I can at least see that pretty face of yours?"

Somehow, he was sure that she was getting ready to pounce.

Faster than the eye could follow, Isshin stabbed the wooden floor beneath his feet.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

O-O-O

A/N: And it is complete! The very first chapter of my newest creation – "SCATHING MOON RISING"!

I guess that now I have a number of things to explain here.

Let's start with the title. "Scathing moon" is the translation of the name of Isshin's sword, Engetsu.

I actually debated with myself should I, or should I not do an 'Origin story' that I was planning for some time now, and ultimately decided to do it, since if I wait any longer, Kubo will beat me to it~! (As far as I managed to figure out, the new arc in manga will also reveal a portion of Isshin's past. If I waited for that to happen, my own story would become irrelevant and dwindle down to a what-if type of story – nowhere as nearly as interesting, once the subject is covered by the canon, don't you agree?)

My plans for this story are already mostly set in motion, and I plan to tie in this story to the canon – sort of like a prequel. Also, the things that happen in this story will be reflected upon my other Bleach story – Innocence is a virtue (and no, I have not forgot about it, the third chapter is almost done and will most likely be uploaded soon) as that story also ties into canon (at least it did, till chapter 423 came out…), so anyways, I thought to myself – why not?

Now, regarding Ryūken. I'm making him go through a rebellious stage, similar to the one his son has in canon. And no, I didn't mistake the color of his hair. In Uryū's flashback, when he was remembering his childhood (somewhere in the early episodes/chapters, I can't remember exactly which one), his hair was brown. No one knows why. BTW, he's 20 in this story. (Isshin appears physically to be of the same age)

The Royal Guard! Before I leave I think I should explain them as well. There are twenty six members of the Guard, of which only the top thirteen are members of the "Zero Squad". Those below are just guardsmen. The difference in the uniform is that the Zero Squad members wear proper haori and a right shoulder protector, with the Squad's insignia on their back, while the low ranking members (14-26) are dressed the same way as Isshin. They have the white haori-like cloth tied to their shoulder protector. On the Shoulder protector a number is engraved, indicating their rank. (In case you've missed it, Isshin is ranked fifteenth)

The silver pendant is something worn only by members of the Zero Squad (how Isshin acquired his will be shown in the next chapter).

And while we're still talking 'bout the lovable oaf, how did you like his pre-Masaki personality? I'd like to hear how you feel about that.

Wow that was one long note!

_Till next time! Yours truly: _

_~KuroiTori-sama_

_PS: Reviews are nice. They don't take more than a minute or two to write, but have the power to brighten up the writer's day tenfold (even more in my case). So, please review._


	2. Chapter 2: Mean man

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach**_

Rating T (I guess, I'm never good at determining this stuff…

Mini author note:

"Hollow" – normal talking in the outside world (anywhere other than Isshin's inner world) and Isshin talking inside the his inner world

'_Hollow'_ – thinking

'_**Hollow'**_– Zanpakutou talking to shinigami while the shinigami is in the outside world. Zanpakutou thinking in the inner world.

"**Hollow" –**Zanpakutou talking.

(Hope this wasn't too confusing, roll for it!)

Chapter two – Mean-man

The shockwaves ripped the small shop to shreds, scattering large chunks of walls in all directions, and lifting up a huge cloud of dust.

Isshin gripped Engetsu with both his hands, waiting for his opponent to give herself away.

It happened in a flash – one moment, he was standing concealed in the cloud of dust, the second, he was blasted away by an intense flow of reiatsu – its push rivaling the one he put in the Getsuga that blew apart the shop. The blast sent him flying a good hundred feet through the air. As he landed on his feet, he saw that the dust cloud – and the charred ground they were standing a moment ago – were sliced.

Through the gap in the cloud, like looking through a tear, Isshin saw Saeko's frowning face, and her always beautiful figure in a battle-ready stance. Her Shihakushō was opened slightly, and as such, was quite revealing. The shadows surrounding her moved like a wild tide, surging forward, pitch black – like the color of her hair – to the point where Isshin couldn't even see the ground where the shadow fell. Should he be unfortunate enough to step on one of those, he would experience a whole other world of nasty, Isshin knew.

But the risks did nothing to quell his reckless nature, as he grinned in joy, as he held his Engetsu up to his eyes, parodying the European **En Garde**. He kissed the broad side of the blade, despite hearing Engetsu's protests.

"You know, sweetheart, you're really pushing it here. See, I ain't really into fighting girls." With a deadpan expression, she simply noted.

"Tell that to that hollow you killed yesterday."

"Hey, I resent that! If there's a mask on their face, they don't qualify – besides, how did you know it was me?"

"We checked the location of all Zero's in Japan. When the search came out negative, someone remembered a stolen pendulant. Add two and two together…"

The shadows at her feet burst outwards, devouring everything that they fell on. Isshin jumped into air, out of their reach.

"So it only got me a day at most?"

She shunpo-ed after him.

"What, you have to get on top of me to use shadows in midair?" Isshin commented. "If getting on top was all that you wanted, all you had to do was ask." Ha added with a sly smirk.

She sheathed her zanpakutou.

"What, giving up on using Kagemaru?"

Her left hand grasped the sheath. Her right hand firmly held the hilt of the sheathed Kagemaru. Just as Isshin was about to taunt her, he felt searing pain across his chest.

Blood gushed through the huge gash that opened across his chest. He pressed his hand on the wound, in a futile attempt to stem the flow of the precious life fluid that rapidly escaped him.

He bent over and plummeted to the ground.

The woman, Busujima Saeko walked up to him. Her blade was still sheathed.

"Fuck…" Isshin cursed as he coughed blood. "Bitch, that was _Iai no jutsu_, wasn't it? A special…" he paused to cough, "one of the special battle styles the Zeroes employ…" He tried to stand up. His Shihakushō was soaked with blood. Finally he succeeded his attempts, rising to his knees, using Engetsu for support.

"The truth was, Zero Squad's Second already knew you were somewhere in this city. Don't ask me how."

Isshin frowned.

'_Engetsu… can you do me a favor? Put a bit more juice into the next Getsuga.' _ He could feel the zanpakutou silently agreeing. A small tug inside of his soul signaled that the blade has began the process.

Now he had to bide for time.

"So that's what made you the Fourteenth?" He asked through his bloody grin. Isshin could still feel intense pain in his chest, which skyrocketed every time he would breathe in, as the cut-through ribs moved. "I figured that reiatsu alone wouldn't be enough to be the leader of the Guardsmen."

Her usually beautiful face twisted into a mask of rage.

"Fuck the Guardsmen! I will become a Zero one day!" She took a deep breath, regaining her composure. "A deserter like yourself wouldn't understand… But look at it this way. I bring them either you or your head, and my record list will be perfect! As soon as one of the Zeroes would kick the bucket, I, I would become the Thirteenth!" Her eyes seamed to glimmer from her fanaticism. "I will serve the ultimate being, The Soul King!" Her mouth stretched, revealing her white teeth, as the corners of her lips twisted upward into a grizzly grin.

"Sounds like…" Isshin coughed blood "…like you have yourself quite a plan there."

She crouched down, then with her left hand grasped Engetsu's hilt, her hand over Isshin's. Deep inside of Isshin's mind, Engetsu grumbled, annoyed with this, but continued to do as Isshin had told him earlier.

With her right hand, she cupped his chin, and leaned forward, kissing him on the lips. As she pulled away, Isshin closed his eyes.

"I believe that we should end this here and now. That little stunt of yours with blowing up the shop got my hair all messy… and I also need a shower."

Without opening his eyes, Isshin grinned.

"I agree – and I accept your surrender."

She tried to slap him, but he caught her hand.

"Your Iai wasn't _that_ sharp, girlie. If it was, there'd be two Isshins here now instead of one."

She went for her sword, grabbing the hilt. Her eyes finally noticed the change in Engetsu's blade texture – were it was once metallic, it was now starting to glow in a scorching white light.

She tried to pull away, but Isshin held her firmly.

'_How could I not notice something like _that_?'_ she thought to herself, somewhat panicky.

Isshin seemed to have read her thoughts.

"That's because you were too busy making out!" he swung his blade upwards, out of the ground that it's tip was embedded in. "Getsuga Tenshou!"

O-O-O

_(Roughly fifteen minutes later)_

Saeko was lying on the ground. Both of her hands were scorched and bloody. Her zanpakutou, Kagemaru, was lying next to her. Already, police and firefighters were at the scene, but since they possessed no reiatsu, they couldn't see her there.

She bit her lip, remembering how the fight ended.

'_That shithead… He was weaker than me, and he used that to get the upper hand. Fuck…'_ she felt tears of humiliation roll down her cheeks. _'How could I have been so stupid, oh Lord?' _She asked herself. Her 'Lord', or Soul King, would surely reject her for her failure now. She picked up her zanpakutou, Kagemaru, and resealed it.

'_He didn't even aim at me… not for one second.'_ The scorching of her hands was resulted by the superheating of the atmosphere as the crescent moon-like blast moved through it. _'You got me good, asshole, but letting me live will come back and bite you… I promise…'_

As she finally managed to stand up, she stumbled away from the battlefield, unaware of the black cat that observed her with those piercing yellow eyes. Once the woman of the Royal Guard had disappeared from view, the cat waved its tail, than sniffed the air. Picking up the scent it was interested in, the cat jumped into the air, at breakneck speeds.

Several firefighters that were searching through the rubble for survivors shouted in surprise.

…

In a day or to, the city of Karakura had a new urban legend – the flying cats. Some even speculated that, since according to unofficial reports, the authorities that were at the scene failed to acquire any concrete evidence of what caused the explosion, that the cat was actually an emissary of destruction, sent from the other side of life by the gods – or God, depending on the personal beliefs of people telling those stories – to forewarn and/or cause the disaster, as a punishment of the divine.

O-O-O

_(Tomorrow, noon, in a motel)_

"YOU…!" Urahara exclaimed, "_YOU_ OWE _ME_ A NEW SHOP!"

However, if he had expected Isshin to pay up, or anything, he was gravely mistaking. The Royal Guard renegade in question wasn't even interested in showing an ounce of regret, and was currently engaged in tuning out the shopkeeper, as he lay on Urahara's couch. Finally, realizing that his date with miss beautiful in dreamland would have to be postponed, Isshin lifted himself in a seated position and lit his cigarette. After a moment, he looked up back at Urahara, who was now coughing from the stench of the cigarette.

"It's your own fault, Geta-bōshi." He let out another puff of smoke. "You're the one that let that woman into your shop."

"Did not!"

"Anyway…" He stopped to take another strong puff at his cigarette than, after he tossed the used-up cigarette butt out the window – an act Urahara strongly protested – Isshin lit a second – an act Urahara protested to even harder, to the same result. "Besides, don't you have somewhere to be?"

To this Urahara face-palmed.

"This is my apartment." He stated with a deadpan expression.

To this, Isshin quickly stood up.

"That's my que to leave!" he said, quickly proceeding to the window and jumping out.

Urahara went after him, but when he got to the window, he just shouted after him.

"We're not done here, you and I!" The moment Isshin turned around and gave him a thumbs up, Urahara slumped down to the ground, leaning on the wall.

"I just _had_ to jinx it… haven't I…?" he whispered out.

O-O-O

_(Meanwhile, at the edge of town, at the bank of the river)_

Busujima Saeko finally managed to get to the water's edge, beneath the large bridge. Pulling out her zanakutou, she walked into the river, until she was waist deep.

She stabbed the water.

"_Kurozumu_… Kagemaru." Saeko sent her shadows onto the river.

Seconds passed, but then, finally, the waters of the river began to bubble and hiss, as a figure emerged in a cloud of steam, as the waters parted. Despite being in pain, she got down on her knee.

"Aivas Tlamunus… It's an honor to work with you, Ajax-sama." The man wore a standard Shihakushō, but over it, he had a white, sleeveless haori with the kanji symbol 'zero' on his back. In body, he was truly enormous – a giant among men, towering over the rest of his comrades of Zero Squad, a seven feet tall monster that could easily overpower lesser foes with his shear bodily strength alone, never mind reiatsu. On his back, he carried a large black spear, too heavy to be lifted by normal people. Seeing his subordinate and temporary partner wounded, he frowned, as a dissatisfied look crept into his eyes.

"To think that a Fourteenth could lose to a Fifteenth, no matter how crafty he is, is truly disappointing." Saeko couldn't make herself look him in the eyes. Here, standing before her was one of the legendary Zeroes – and until now has regarded her for a partner – and was now looking at her in disappointment. She cringed, expecting a punishment of the divine to descent on her.

It never came.

As she looked up, she noticed that Ajax has taken his massive black spear in hand.

"Let's go, Poseidon no yari." Her eyes widened, as she realized that he just spoke the name of the holly zanpakutou that was the weapon of the Thirteenth – one of the champions of the Holly Zero Squad, whom answered to the Soul King and Soul King alone. She began to tremble, as religious zeal overtook her.

"Take my blood, should you please so, holly Zero…" She could feel his gaze on her, as she fell on her arms and knees, holding her head mere inches from the muddy riverbed. As seconds passed, she awaited her sentence.

To her surprise, she felt the butt end of the spear on her burnt arm. As the weapon made contact with her skin, it coated her arm in water, which in turn glowed faintly, than evaporated, leaving behind her arm unscathed, and her skin completely recovered. As soon as the process was complete, Aivas Tlamunus, or Ajax, as he was more commonly known – and demanded to be addressed as such – quickly proceeded to rejuvenate her other arm.

"Can't have a wounded… only slow me down that way…" she heard him mutter.

"Stand up." This was no request – this was an order. She stood up, while avoiding eye contact.

'_Fanatics… You'll be hearing from me about this… Royal S__ō__taicho-sama…_' Ajax thought to himself, thoroughly annoyed by his partner's behavior. _'This has your name written all over it, Achilles… you asshole.'_

He turned around and, with a swing of his arm, sealed his zanpakutou. The now sheathed blade resembled a regular katana, but its guard was decorated like a flower – to Ajax's great dismay. He stabbed the air, and waited for five seconds before taking off his silver pendulant and pressing it into the zanpakutou's hilt, while sending his reiatsu in bursts of varying strength, thus creating an encrypted password only the Zeroes knew – ordinary Guardsmen would have to wait until the engineers of the Royal Palace open it's gates to allow them in. Saeko silently gasped, as the air parted, revealing blinding orange light, bathing them both in its glow. Once Ajax stepped inside, she quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind.

Unbeknown to both of them, however, was that on the other side of the river, concealed by the shadow of an old oak, one man observed them the whole time. As he stepped outside of the shadow, his uniform, as white as the snows of the Himalayas peeks, glimmered in the midday sun, putting to shame his equally white hair.

A black cat walked up to his feet.

Ishida Sōken reached down and petted it. The cat growled in discomfort, than tried to bite the man's fingers.

"I'm sorry my tiny friend, but you know me, I can't resist small and furry animals."

The cat growled again.

"Pet me again, and I swear I'll bite off your finger, ol' man." The cat replied, not pleased at all. "Enough with your shenanigans geezer, we got bigger problems to deal with."

Sōken nodded, he has seen the symbol on that giant's back.

"My sensei spoke of Zeroes, as he had learned from his sensei, and his sensei learned it from _his_ sensei… but never had I dreamed I would live to see one up close."

"You call that up close?" The cat teased.

"Closer that I would ever like…" The Quincy replied with a chuckle. He knew that the moment an unknown shinigami had appeared in town that something like this would happen, that Soul Society would send its troops after the deserter – and that both he and his unruly son would have to go into hiding, but… Should the legendary champions that surpass even the captains of Gotei 13 decide to do battle in the city, odds were that both Karakura and Tokyo would end up whipped out from the face of the Earth, along with a good portion of everything in the surrounding area of Japan's capitol.

"I don't like where this is heading, my furry companion. I have to talk some sense into that son of mine."

The cat gave him a puzzled look.

"He's hell-bent on tracking down the deserter, for what purpose I don't know. But if he continues, he will undoubtedly run into those monsters."

The cat nodded, then jumped into the air, instantly flying across the width of the river, effortlessly.

Sōken looked in the direction his tiny friend had gone.

"And there you go again, dropping by without a word's notice, than disappearing into nowhere, never bothering to even say goodbye…" he took off his glasses and wiped them with a handkerchief. "Such an unreliable cat, he is… I'll make sure I let him know that the next time I see him." He said with a smile.

O-O-O

During all that time, Isshin was wasting time in a local bar, drinking his seventeenth beer that day, the cute looking waitress was sitting next to him, every now and then giving nervous glances to the counter, where her boss was. Despite her uneasiness, she had nothing to worry about – Isshin was the bar's most profitable customer, and he would always drink more when there were ladies with him. The boss was undoubtedly already trying to guess the final number that would be on Isshin's bill, barely resisting the urge to rub his palms together, as nonexistent dollar signs filled his entire vision.

There was singing. There was joy. There was vomit, but let's forget that.

All in all, a fine three-hour pastime in the life of one Kurosaki Isshin. He was going through the eighteenth bottle, when he saw someone stand in front of him.

"Buddy… Ya'r standin' in ma sun… Move it." Ishin said, earning himself a raised eyebrow of the person that stood in next to the table. Isshin squinted his eyes to better see the person's face through his drunken haze.

"You're in a bar. There's no sun in this corner."

A woman.

That alone beckoned a second attempt.

She had wavy, neck long orange hair, and striking brown eyes. She seemed to be frowning.

"Hey, hey… babe, wadya say you sit by good ol'Issh*hick*, eh?" He moved aside on the bench and patted on it, calling for her to sit down.

A second later, he found that his drunken haze had lifted, along with the fact that he was now staring at the ceiling, in a somewhat unnatural angle, and that his cheek was burning.

"Wasit*hick* was it some'ing I sai*hick* - I need a glass of wat*hick*er – something I said?"

Somehow managing to understand his drunken speech, the woman next to him handed him a glass of water, though not entirely sure it would do him much good.

Isshin spilled the cold water on his head.

"Now… What was that all about?"

So, the woman next to him started explaining.

O-O-O

"I don't believe it!" The girl muttered in anger, as she walked outside the bar and further down the street. "Are all of them such jerks? This is the last time I bothered with those asses that call themselves shinigami." She knew a gigai when she saw one.

This guy was even worse than the local shinigami in charge of defending Karakura. The local shinigami would always go and say something along the line of "don't tell me how to do my job, go play with your dolls, girlie". Jerks, all of them.

But, that did leave her with the problem. And the problem's name was Hollow – five Hollows, to be precise. She had to guess the later since, though her abilities to see the spiritual were strong, seeing both Hollows and shinigami was out of her visual spectrum.

'_Those things are just hovering above…_' She thought to herself, fighting the instinct that overtook her every cell, making every fiber of her being scream to stay still, to show no sign that she can sense the Hollows presence.

'_If I just pretend, I'll live, but whose life will be traded for mine?'_ She wouldn't allow that to happen. Pushing aside all of her worries, she looked up in the direction of the Hollows, without trying to hide what she was doing. Seconds later, the monsters plummeted from the air like dive-bombers.

'_Run Masaki, run!'_ She thought to herself jokingly, as she darted through a narrow alley that lead between the buildings. The first Hollow, the one that looked like a big flying bat with a head in the shape of a pterodactyl's, only with horns, tried to follow her, but judging from the dust cloud that was just created and the big chipping on the sides of the buildings, the Hollow was too big to fit in, and was now hopelessly stuck, at least for the time being, screaming at the top of its lungs.

Masaki let out a victorious laugh, only to jump out of the way instinctively, as a winged cheetah-like, tailless Hollow spat a foul fluid that instantly burned through the ground where she stood not a second ago.

'_I do NOT want that in my hair, damn it!' _ She continued to run, past the garbage container, past the fire escape of one of the buildings… Her heart was pounding, as the adrenaline coursed through her oxygen-enriched bloodstream. Not even trying to look at what was behind her, she ran for the opening between the two buildings that lead to the street that ran parallel to the one she escaped from.

A murky shadow that seemed to be suspended in midair blocked the exit.

Masaki jumped, and dived through a small gap of clear air that was close to the ground – right between the Hollow's legs. Not even a half a second later, she heard the sound of concrete shattering, as the Hollow's fist slammed into the ground.

"Damn, that was close!" _'Why don't I ever think these things through?'_

Suddenly, the clear air that was around her darkened to a murky shade of grayish brown – she was surrounded. Like a cornered animal, Masaki was franticly looking for an exit.

The shadowy figures moved closer.

She could smell the stench of their foul breath.

In her ears, she could hear their cries for flesh.

THERE!

She quickly noticed a small gap between the two shadows, one that resembled the cheetah-like creature from before, the other resembling a towering gorilla/alligator hybrid.

'_JUMP NOW!'_

She jumped.

Her vision turned dark, as one of the monster's fist hit her across the back, slamming her against the pavement.

She somehow managed to get back on her knees. A hand big enough to wrap around her whole torso grabbed her and picked her up.

"Playing with me, aren't you?" She muttered out. "Fine, but this mouse can bite back!"

And bite she did.

Sinking her teeth into the murky air that surrounded her, she heard the satisfying yell of the monster that thought she would make an easy meal.

The monster started to shake his hand violently, trying to make her let go. Once it realized she was only biting harder, the monster swung its arm, throwing her against a wall.

Masaki let out a yelp of pain, as her body collided with the solid surface of the wall.

She tried to get up, but her vision was still dark, her breathing heavy, and from the pain in the chest that she felt with every breath she took, some of her ribs were broken too. Blood was trickling down her face.

"**Hummie still moving?" **with a deep voice, one of the Hollows spoke. He looked like a bipedal gecko.

"**It twitches! It twitches!"** the other one spoke in excitement. It was the one that reminded her of a cheetah with wings.

"**Where Bigga?" **the third asked. This one looked like someone crossbreed a dodo bird with a lemur.

"**Wall stuck."** The fourth one answered. That was the gorilla-gator.

'_Ah, that's just great… Can't believe I'm gonna die to a bunch of braindeads.'_ Again she tried to get back up to her knees.

"**We eat? We eat?" **The cheetah asked.

"**Rip limbs off. Than eat. She no run." **The gorilla-gator answered.

"**No! No! Take too long! Eat now!"**

"**It take not too long! We rip!"**

The gecko slapped them both.

"**It moving away! You stupid. Kill now!" **he said pointing at Masaki, who was now doing her best to crawl way while the Hollows were bickering.

The other Hollows nodded.

"**Kill."**

"**Kill!"**

"**Kill! Kill!" **

The Dodo-lemur grabbed her by the legs, pulling her up and looked her in the eyes.

"**Pretty… Pretty lady…"** The beak of its mask opened, as its head moved forward, in an attempt to bite her head off.

…

The hollow suddenly started coughing. As its whole body started to violently shake, the creature dropped Masaki, who fell to the ground.

"**What wrong?" **Asked the gorilla-gator, eying Masaki, wondering whether or not to grab her immediately or help his friend.

The dodo-lemur's eyes were tearing, as the monster struggled for breath.

"**What wrong you?"** The gecko asked impatiently.

Suddenly, instinctively, they felt someone watching them.

"**Who there?" **The gorilla-gator yelled. Its eyes widened, as Isshin stepped out of the shadows.

"**Shinigami! Shinigami!"** The cheetah squealed.

"**Just one though." **The gecko commented. **"You do that?" **It said, pointing at the dodo-lemur, who by now was on his knees, both hands gripping the neck, as it violently shook, now desperate for oxygen.

"I just popped a stone down his throat, that's all."

"**Liear! Liear!"**

"You mean liar? That's not very polite you know."

"**When? When?"**

"While he was commenting on the beauty of this girl – when else?" Isshin said, shrugging. "Oh, and by the way, your buddy that was stuck? He won't be joining us. I think he lost his head along the way."

Isshin drew his zanpakutou.

"**Kill?"** Asked the gecko.

"**Kill! Kill!"** Said the cheetah, as acid began dripping from the corners of its mouth, burning into the concrete pavement that it stood on.

"**Kill."** Answered the gorilla-gator, then grabbed the dodo-lemur and applied a Heimlich Maneuver. The dodo-lemur spat out the rock.

The dodo-lemur gave Isshin a look full of malice.

"**We kill." **

Isshin smirked, and lifted Engetsu in front of his face.

"En garde…" he said, assuming a parody of a proper fencer.

That was when the Hollows noticed his shoulder protector. Somewhere deep inside their underdeveloped peanut-sized brains, it sparked a response. A second later, they recognized it.

"**Guard?" **

"**Guard." **

"**Guard! Guard!" **

"**Aaaahhh… Shit."**

In a burst of reiatsu, it was all over.

O-O-O

She was coming to.

"Easy there beautiful. You got hit pretty badly by that truck."

She tried to sit up, but the pain coursing through her body made her lie back down.

"Where am I?" She looked around the room. All clean and white.

"Where would you be? It's a hospital." The man replied.

She tried to take a good look at him. He was tall, taller than her, and had spiky jet-black hair. Once he turned around, she noticed his cleanly shaved face, and a pair of dark brown eyes that looked back at her. There was something menacing about them, those eyes of his. _'Hey, Mean-man…'_ she remembered him.

"I remember you… You're that drunken shinigami at the bar, right?"

Isshin's eyebrows rose up.

"A Shinigami? That truck must've hit you harder that the good doc thought."

"But there where there creatures, Hollows…!"

"Hollo- what? Why do you say that word as if you're describing something alive? Look, I'm calling the doc. Wait here."

Masaki looked at him surprised. Was he serious? And then it all clicked in.

"You aren't here on Soul Society business, are you? You're not supposed to be in this town, am I right?"

Isshin looked over his shoulder.

Masaki swallowed down hard. She knew the only thing that _that_ look could mean – he was debating with himself whether or not to kill her right there. Just as soon as it came, the killing intent in his eyes disappeared. As he turned to leave, Isshin shrugged and pulled out his pack of cigarettes, and lit one of the cigarettes. After taking in a deep breath, he started walking towards the door of the room.

"Thank, Mean-man." He looked over his shoulder again. This time, his eyes reflected mirth, as his newfound nickname amused him.

"What did you call me?" He asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I can tell… you know… what a person's like."

He reached for the doorknob.

"And I'm the mean boogeyman, right?" He opened the door and steeped out. As he looked back inside, he gave her a smile. "You're welcome, beautiful." With a smirk, he closed the door and headed down the hallway.

"Hey mister!" one of the hospital employees called out to him. "You're not allowed to smoke in a hospit-" he yelped, as Isshin just pushed him to the side as he walked past him.

"Bite me."

O-O-O

_(Meanwhile, back inside the hospital room)_

Masaki blushed slightly, once the door closed. Only then did she remember she had forgotten to ask for his name.

'_Thanks… Mean-man. I know what you are. I know what kind of a man you are.' _She thought to herself, as she looked down on the cast around her right arm. In all the excitement, she didn't even notice that she had broken it. _'I know you'd kill a man for wronging you in an instant. But you have your good points, too. Take care, okay?'_

She smiled as she looked at the window, and enjoyed the rays of sun that bathed her, enjoyed the fact that she lived to see another day.

Masaki wondered if she'd ever get a chance to meet him again.

'_See ya around… Mean-man.'_

O-O-O

A/N: Hey! It's done! Hope you enjoyed it.

Explanations:

Kurozumu_, _Kagemaru – Darken, Shadow Ring

Iai no jutsu – Quick-draw technique

Poseidon no yari – Poseidon's spear

_Till next time! Yours truly: _

_~KuroiTori-sama_

_PS: Reviews are nice. They don't take more than a minute or two to write, but have the power to brighten up the writer's day tenfold. So, please review._


	3. Chapter 3: Interlude

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach**_

Rating T (I guess, I'm never good at determining this stuff…)

Mini author note:

"Hollow" – normal talking in the outside world (anywhere other than Isshin's inner world) and Isshin talking inside the his inner world

'_Hollow'_ – thinking

'_**Hollow'**_– Zanpakutou talking to shinigami while the shinigami is in the outside world. Zanpakutou thinking in the inner world.

"**Hollow" – **Zanpakutou talking.

A/N: Huge thanks to Freya, Wulf 4 Life, Caitlyn, It's a Mystery, 20z20, PennyOfTheWild, and FlourTheCat for reviewing. Your support means everything to me. There's no excuse for not updating for this long, but I'm here now, and I'm here to stay!

O-O-O

Chapter three – Interlude

O-O-O

Like a garganta, the sky tore open seven meters above the surface, basking the ground in gentle orange glow of the entrance to the Royal Palace. A lone figure emerged from that light. He stood there for a few minutes, enjoying the cold breeze on his face, then jumped down to the ground without making a sound. Despite Tokyo's bright lights and crowded streets, his descent into the busy city centre caused no alarm – for no one had noticed him, even though just his touch could kill an unprotected soul. Hell, protected or not, fledgling souls of mortal humans would vanish in thin air simply from standing next to him. Beneath the dark gray hood, his gray eyes examined the faces of men and women that obliviously walked past him. The rest of his body was hidden by a long gray coat that reached almost to the ground.

He smirked, satisfied that the giant seal that covered both his back and shoulders was doing its job. On his back, he carried a simple katana, sealed and strapped in – there was no reason for him to use it. Only the oldest and most powerful of the Vasto Lorde would even consider facing him.

As a spirit of a dead child floated to him, he flashed one of his rare honest smiles, ruffling the child's hair. The young boy looked up to his face, staring in his gray eyes, noticing the ageless face, and a paled complexion. The child's eyes widened with surprise, as he bowed his head.

"Kami."

Now it was the man's turn to look surprised. He didn't wear the uniform of the shinigami, and even if had, it still wasn't the appearance mortals expected of them. Smirking kindly, he spoke with a soft, yet authoritative voice.

"Yes, child?"

"My dad…" the child sniffed, holding back the tears. "A monster a-ate my d-dad!"

The man stood silent, not sure what to say. Finally, he took in a deep breath.

"Where?"

"T-There…" The boy muttered in a whisper, pointing at the street's corner. When he looked back up, the man whom he had mistaken for a god had disappeared.

From around the street, a Hollow's head rolled out, soon followed by the rest of its large scaly body. The child screamed, but stopped when he felt the reassuring touch of the man's hand on his hair. Neither the gray coat nor his hands were stained with the red traces of the monster's blood.

But, by the time he got to look up to the man's face, he realized that he was staring at air, the man being long gone.

When several minutes later Enjōji Tatsufusa, third seat of Eight Division and a mountain of a man arrived, all he could see was a young boy sniffing with teary eyes and a happy-ish smile. When he looked at the Hollow's slowly disappearing body, he was both shocked and terrified to see that the beast's head was not severed by a blade, but rather torn off by brute force.

'_By god…'_

"What happened here little boy?"

The boy looked up to the shinigami and, through the tears he no longer held back, said.

"Kami-sama saved me!"

O-O-O

The man was already on the outskirt of Tokyo, moving faster than an eye could keep up, his feet barely brushing the surface of the ground, and each step thrusting him several meters forward through the air. To him, shunpo was a useful accessory, but there was nothing that could compare to the feeling of the rush of air on his skin as he blasted through it at supersonic speeds, running. As the street in which he was running neared its end, he saw a thirty story building appearing in front of him. Not slowing down even for a second, he thrust his foot into the concrete, shattering it, launching himself skyward. He stretched out his hands midair, grabbing the ledge of the building with a wall-crushing grip, and using his momentum and his hands as a pivot point, rotated his body onto the building. As soon as both his feet touched the floor, he readied himself to run off the edge in another supersonic burst of speed, only to feel a presence on the roof he was standing on.

"With due respect, could you not have used shunpo, Izanagi-sama?" Miyamoto spoke, naming the man with one of the names most commonly associated with him. Miyamoto knew that this name, just like so many others, was a fake, an eccentricity displayed by both members of the Royal family. And as far as their apparent godhood was concerned, well... The Soul King himself always defined himself human, and utterly rejected the idea of being a deity. His son on the other hand didn't find it worthy of his time, and hence didn't bother correcting everyone, unintentionally keeping the myth alive.

"Won't you fall on your knees? You are standing before your Sōtaicho here, after all." Izanagi asked with a concealed smirk.

"I would, but long ago I made a policy never to bow before old friends." Miyamoto looked up and chuckled, looking in Izanagi's grinning face. "How long has it been, old friend?"

Izanagi shrugged, and took off his hood, revealing his dark black hair to the setting sun.

"A century here or there?" He replied.

"Feels like more." Miyamoto too now shrugged. "How's home?" He asked, his voice hinting but a trace of nostalgia.

"Still standing, for now. Don't worry yourself," He added, not fooled by Miyamoto's question even for a second, "she's still waiting for you."

Hearing this, Miyamoto gave off an almost nonexistent sigh, but otherwise not showing any sign of the overwhelming relief the he felt, as her name echoed through his soul.

'_Tomoe…'_ Three centuries of absence were indeed a long time.

His thoughts were disturbed by the sound of Izanagi's voice.

"How's your new assignment? Are you any closer to bringing in the deserter?"

"I believe you received the report Ajax sent at the same time I have – that subordinate of his that Achilles assigned him for support made contact with the target. You already know this, right?" He was surprised when he realized that Izanagi was looking at him slightly surprised.

"You're kidding, right? Izanagi…?"

"Don't give me that look. I must have simply overlooked the report during my work, that's all."

Miyamoto sighed, but didn't bother to state out he noticed the Soul Prince's little lie.

"The fourteenth, Busujima I believe her name is, met the target and engaged him in brief combat, but was tricked and disabled. Ajax treated her injuries with his zanpakutou, then took her back to the Royal Palace for healing. He should return soon."

"Always the responsible one, he is… Very well." He smirked. "It seems you got all under control here." He slightly bent his knees. "Ciao."

In a burst of speed, he ran off the roof of the building they were on, jumping to the ground thirty floors bellow before continuing his mad dash through the streets that lead out of the Tokyo city.

Back at the top of the building, Miyamoto sighed, shrugging.

'_Even after four thousand years…' _He shook his head in disbelief. _'That man will never grow up.'_

OOO

Shiba Kaien was not a happy camper. Not happy in the least. He was inside of a small office, leaning on the wall while he studied the facial features of the man that summoned him. The man in question seemed to be tall, though how he was sitting behind his office desk at the time, he might have mistaken. His skin was dark tanned, and he had the eyes of a European, or maybe American. He had blond curly hair, as well as blue eyes and wore a typical black business suit with a navy blue tie. And he knew Kaien's secret identity as shinigami.

'_US military personnel?' _Kaien wondered._ 'There are still some US bases in Japan from the war. Is he from one of them?'_ He had many questions. Like per instance, how the hell could an ordinary human even see him? He could as well start with the most pressing one.

"How the hell did you recognize me?"

"It wasn't all that difficult." The man replied.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Eee-laborate?" The man kicked back in his chair, lifting his feet on the table. Through a wide grin he said: "What's there to elaborate?"

Kaien's eyes narrowed. This guy knew something he didn't.

"How did you recognize me?"

To this, the man took his feet of the table, and opened a drawer. Without saying a word, he pulled out an A4 sheet and pushed it across the table.

"What's that?"

The man smirked, as he pulled a lock of hair behind his ear, as a confident smile lingered on his lips. "Check it yourself." Kaien approached the table and picked it up.

He nearly dropped it.

"Shiba Kaien, fukutaichō of the thirteenth division if the Gotei 13." He read out loud. "Height 6'0. Weight 50 lbs. Spiky raven black hair. Shiba clan badge on the arm. Married to Shiba Miyako." His eyes grew wider as the list continued. "Two family members, a sister and a brother. Location of residence, thirteenth division barracks, home situated in western rukongai, Hokutan dist…rict." Crumbling the piece of paper in his hand, he cast a venomous glare at the man.

"Where did you get this?" Heck, even the picture in the corner was that of him in a shinigami Shihakushō.

"From whom do you think?" The man said. The easygoing atmosphere that seemed to surround him just evaporated. He leaned forward in his chair, placing his elbows on the table and crossing the fingers right in front of his face, his blue eyes reflecting Kaien's glare back at him. With a cold voice, he then proceeded to answer: "From your superiors, where else?" All color seemed to have disappeared from the face of the young fukutaichō.

"My… superiors?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion. Whatever was going on, this guy seemed to know way too much to be nothing less than a shinigami agent of some sort. "Who the fuck are you?" He hissed out.

"My, such hostility…"

"Answer me!"

"All in due time, kid, all in due time."

But if he had expected Kaien to play by the book, than he definitely didn't read all there was about him after all. The first punch landed on the unsuspecting blond man's face, making him fall out of his chair. Just as the man tried to get up, he felt the weight of Kaien's foot as the young fukutaicho stepped on his chest. To his surprise, Kaien was already in his shinigami form.

The fukutaicho stepped harder, forcing the man to hiss out in pain.

"Don't bother calling for your security." Kaien said with a smirk, "Even if they _could_ see me…" he paused to pull out his zanpakuto, placing the razor sharp tip against the man's neck, "I doubt they would be fast enough to do something." Pushing the blade only slightly, he made a small red line on the man's neck. He could see a small drop of crimson on the tip of the blade. The mixed feelings of rage and concealed fear reflected off the blond man's face gave him some satisfaction.

"Now, why don't we start over? I want names. Namely yours and your contact's in Soul Society."

The man gave him the grin of a grizzly bear.

"You got some guts kid, coming at me like that. The moment I get out of this gigai, you'll be in for such an ass-whooping…!" He quickly quieted down as the sharp end of Kaien's zanpakutou began drifting towards his jugular.

"Hmm, seems to me you know what happens when a zanpakutou kills something other than hollows, don't you?"

The man nodded.

"They're not called soul-cutters for nothing, right? It can reach you inside that fleshy suit you're wearing." He said with a menacing smile. "How would you like to disappear?"

"It is forbidden for shinigami to kill non-Hollows." The man replied, undaunted, with only a sliver of worry slipping in his voice.

"Oh, no, no, no…" Kaien began shaking his head, enjoying how suddenly the man's eyes drifted over to Kaien's zanpakutou hilt the moment his grip tightened, "…you see, I have all the justification right there on that little piece of paper you gave me. For all I know, my wife and siblings lives might be in danger, therefore, I would be obliged to find out the truth – even if it meant killing you in the process. And do you know the best part?" The just man glared at him.

"Here's the best part – whose bright idea was to meet while in gigai? It doesn't matter how strong you'd be out of it – while you're in one, you're no less killable than any living human out-" He was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. And, unless the humans managed to develop a phone that could produce real sound instead of that annoying 'ring-ring', not to mention the faint vibrations of reiatsu in the atmosphere, it was definitely a product of Soul Society.

"Where is it?"

"Second drawer from the top. Hidden compartment at the back, invisible to human eye."

Kaien took a step back towards the drawer. "Don't move." He commanded. He quickly opened it and, never taking his eyes off the man, found the hidden compartment. It wasn't locked, but then again, why should it be? He reached in and pulled out a black, standard shinigami issue Denreishinki.

He answered it.

"Yea?"

"Achilles-sama?" He heard a familiar voice on the other end.

"Akon? Is that you Akon?"

"S-S-Shiba-fukutaicho? !" He could hear the scientist's startled voice on the other side. "What are you doing on _that_ phone?"

"That's my line! And Akon, if I'm not happy with your answer, I'm shoving that cigar I know you're smoking so far down your throat, you'll be crapping tobacco for weeks!"

"S-Sir, I was assigned to act as a liaison between Soul Society and…"

Akon fell silent, but Kaien was in no mood for potty breaks. He had less and less idea in what he got himself into, but he would be damned if he was just gonna let some yahoo push him around.

"And? ! Spit it!"

"I'm not sure you have the proper clearance for that information, Shiba-fukutaicho."

"Akon…" he hissed out his name threateningly, "…don't make me come over there."

"Sir, the probability of you being able to come-"

"AKON!"

Suddenly, he heard the man on the floor laughing.

"And what do you want?"

"The phone. Give it to me."

He thought about it for a second. Hell, by now he was just pissed enough to kill the man – what did Akon call him, Achilles – and everyone else in the whole bloody building. The only thing preventing him was that damn piece of paper with the name of his wife written on it.

"You have sixty seconds." He said as he tossed the phone.

"Give me ten." He said with a grin, then put the phone next to his ear. "Tell him everything Akon."

"Sir, are you sure that's wise?"

"Just do it. I'd told him myself if I'd have known how he'd react. And Akon… Tell Ukitake to do better profiling on his subordinates next time. This cat here nearly killed me over a misunderstanding." The connection broke off for a moment, while Akon most likely went to consult his superiors, most likely Kurotsuchi. Soon enough, Achilles heard the scientist's voice.

"Very well Achilles-sama. I shall inform Shiba-fukutaicho of the current situation."

Without saying a word, the blond man tossed the phone back to Kaien.

"That's more than ten seconds." Kaien muttered as he put the phone next to his ear.

"Blame Mayuri."

Kaien cursed.

"Talk to me Akon. Don't leave out a damn thing."

Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, the scientist did just that. He told him of how their objective was the capture or elimination of a dangerous rogue shinigami that was recently located to be passing through Karakura City. Due to the nature of that shinigami's former position, namely being one of the Royal Guard, it turned out that cooperation with them would be of absolute importance. For Kaien, most of that was gibberish, but the scientist's final instruction left him feeling winded.

"Yeah." Said the man, Achilles, as he got up off the floor with an unfriendly smile. "Sucks to be you."

'_Crap.' _But there was no way he would let this man see that he agreed with him. _'Can't believe this guy's gonna be my superior during the investigation…'_

O-O-O

"So… Where are we going exactly?"

Isshin looked over his shoulder. Following him closely was Urahara Kisuke. If the expression on the merchant's face was any indicator, he was very confused.

"Can it Geta-bōshi. Do you want us to get caught?" They were both dressed in standard shinigami uniforms, and were doing their best to not stand out.

"…That wouldn't be the most favorable of outcomes, would it?"

"…No."

"…Are you going to tell me why you dragged me all the way to Seireitei at least? I'm not too big on getting executed. And last time I checked, I was still number one on Soul Society's most wanted blacklist."

Isshin smirked.

"'Fraid I'll steel your thunder?"

"No, I'm just… okay, maybe a little bit."

They waited until a group of Fourth Division shinigami walked past them before they continued talking.

"Relax. Besides, you always bitching about settlements for your shop got annoying after the fiftieth time."

Urahara shook his head.

"I still fail to see how sneaking into Seireitei could have anything to do with our monetary predicament – we're not hitting a bank, are we?"

"Shut up and keep walking…" Isshin hissed silently through his teeth, as he waved a hello to group of shinigami ladies that were sitting inside one of many Seireitei's outdoor mess' where the shinigami would visit after work hours, or during lunch breaks. One of the women waved back, leaving an impression of familiarity – even though Urahara assumed she did that only so she wouldn't appear to be rude, just in case.

"Stop attracting attention, damnit." He hissed back at the renegade. "Are we there yet?" Isshin rolled his eyes.

"The obnoxious kid routine? Really?"

Urahara flashed a grin. "Aaaaaaare we theeeeeeeere yeeeeeeet?"

"Knock it off!"

Urahara chuckled. "Fine, fine… spoilsport."

"And we're not hitting a bank. There's a hidden supply stash here for Royal Guard operatives to use." Isshin explained. "I'm guessing the gear my kind uses while operating in the field sounds interesting?"

"Possibly… go on."

"There's a secret room beneath the Tenth Division barracks. It was made for our operatives in Seireitei, so it's rarely used these days." He paused to think for a moment. "Odds are, there won't be anything with serious firepower… But there should be some adequate stealth systems.

They made the turn at the next corner, and kept moving forward. The roof of the Tenth Division's main barrack came into view in front of them.

"Okay now, use only short bursts of shunpo Geta-bō…shi…" He muttered a curse when he saw Urahara shunpo-ing up to the rooftop and disappearing over to the other side. When he caught up, he punched him in the shoulder.

"Why the hell did you run ahead like that?" He asked the sleazy merchant.

"Puh-lease. You got an ex-taichō here. I know how to stay hidden when I want to."

Hidden atop the roof tiles and hidden from view, the duo waited for the right chance to do a little of break-and-entry.

"Hey, bucket-hat? Who's leading the Tenth these days?" Urahara remained silent, then pointed finger down into the group of shinigami.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro."

"Which one?"

"The one in the center of the group."

"Behind the kid?"

"The taichō is that kid."

"Good one. Now seriously."

"I am serious."

Isshin gawked, but otherwise said nothing. In some fifteen minutes, the courthouse seemed clear. Without making a sound, they jumped down to the ground and quickly waked to the small backdoor that lead into the barrack. Isshin lead them confidently through a bunch of corridors with such ease that it quickly became clear that the rogue had visited the Tenth division many times in the past.

"Hey, Kurosaki?" Isshin grunted in response. "Can I ask you something?" Hearing the rogue grunt again, Urahara interpreted it as an okay. "So, what division were you before you got the promotion?"

"Doesn't concern you." Feeling uncomfortable, Urahara simply muttered a 'sorry' before moving on. They went down the stairs to the basement. Spotting a small broom closet door, Isshin flashed a satisfied smile before stepping inside. He pulled out the pendulant he wore around his neck and pressed it against the wall opposite to the door.

"What are you doing?" Urahara asked.

"Shush." The merchant could hear the rogue mutter something under breath, ending with 'Noren Mekuri', 'Kyōmon' and 'Sho'. The wall suddenly appeared to be a lot less solid. Mist-like, even. Isshin confirmed it by stepping through.

"That's quite some kidō you got there…" Urahara muttered for himself following him into darkness, but Isshin heard him nonetheless, and grinned as he lit up a small torch and used it to light up the dark. He then held up the pendulant so that Urahara could see it before putting it back around his neck and hiding it in his Shihakusho.

"Royal Guard needs to be able to fight off any threat. This pendulant is one of many items we use to give us the edge when fighting threats that no ordinary shinigami could stand against."

"And how does that little thing help you?"

"Think of it as a kidō processor. It can combine up to three spells into a big one."

"Fantastic. Can I get one of those?" The rogue dismissed him with a wave of hand.

"Hell no. There's not a spare in any of the three words, human, shinigami or hollow."

"Then…?"

"Royal Palace only."

"Damn." Urahara then noticed a small jeweled dagger on one of the shelves. "What does this one do?" He asked as he reached for it.

"Don't touch that!" Being a science wiz himself, Urahara knew when not to push his luck with the unknown, and quickly pulled his hand back.

"The techies in the Palace have been experimenting with Bakkōtō technology for the past few years, ever since Yamamoto reported their existence. That thing will kill you if you don't know how to use it."

"Bakkōtō tech? Must be something that happened after my exile." He frowned. "If it's so dangerous, how come it's a standard issue for you guys?"

"Who said it's a standard issue?" He grabbed the hilt, but right before his fingers wrapped around it, Urahara saw Isshin's palm start to glow, bathing the tiny tentacles in its light. "They engenered it to be a reiatsu storage and release weapon. And before you say anything, that's all I know about it. They never thought me how to actually use it." He returned the dangerous dagger back on the shelf. Behind his back, he heard Urahara sigh in disappointment.

"What else do you got here?"

Isshin frowned as he looked around himself, examining each shelf before he saw what he was looking for. He picked up a small chest, less than thirty centimeters wide and showed its contents to Urahara with a grin. The merchant needed to look at it only once to know what was in front of him.

"I'll take it!" He said, with a grin matching the rogue's.

O-O-O

"Ugh! This bites!" Matsuri groaned. She was sitting on top of the Karakura bridge, with her feet dangling over the edge. Her brother, who was lying next to her with a straw in his teath, facepalmed.

"Kid, you just had a brush with death. Chill."

"Easy for you to say. You don't take anything seriously."

"I do."

"Mhmm."

"I do!"

"You spent most of your time off duty asleep!"

"And I spend most of my time on duty fighting your share of hollows – not that there's anything wrong with that!" He quickly corrected himself. "I'll keep doing it till you get a full recovery." When the girl sighed, he got up to a seated position and wrapped his arm around her. "You're still upset about that rogue guy who saved our collective behinds, aren't you?"

"And you're not?"

"Absolutely not!" He said with a fake smile. "Think about it – a guy like that can take care of himself, right?" But guilt made his stomach churn inside. _'Take care of himself? Against Shiba-fukutachō and the might of a full division at his back? Nobody's that tough.'_

"Nii-san…"

"What?"

"Do you get the feeling we're being watched?"

The teenager scoffed. "We're always being watched when up here. This bridge is a tourist attraction. People look up all the time." He leaned forward over the edge, sticking out his tongue at the crowd below. "That doesn't mean that they can see…" It took him a few seconds to realize that there was a man in the crowd looking straight at him. From the look in the man's eyes, Fujimaru felt chills running down his spine. "They can't see us, right?"

Matsuri tugged him on the sleeve of his Shihakusho.

"Let's get out of here, nii-san."

"Yeah, let's."

And in a blur of shunpo they were gone, leaving the strange man dressed in white and blue behind them. His searing gaze followed them across the sky, hidden beneath strands of brown hair. Before anyone noticed anything, he slipped the small silver cross back into his sleeve, as he started walking in their general direction.

O-O-O

(End of chapter three)

A/N: Okay, I'm guilty as charged. There's no way to express how deeply sorry I am for not updating this sooner (or sticking to the time table I put up on my profile, for that matter… my bad).

Okay, so here I have introduced a new character – the strange leader of the Royal Guard, the man that took upon himself a name of a god. He's also the son of the Soul King. Just to clear any misconception here, he is NOT a god, or an avatar of a god, or anything god-related. And unless I change my mind (which is unlikely at this point), his appearances will be limited to cameos and some Royal Guard related scenes throughout the story. (He will play a lot more prominent role in the sister story of "Scathing Moon Rising" – namely my other fanfiction "Innocence is a Virtue")

I also reintroduced two other characters – Miyamoto and Achilles (from Japanese and Greek cultures respectively). Just in case anyone forgot, Miyamoto is the second seat in the Zero Squad (top 13 elite warriors of the Royal Guard), and Achilles is fourth.

You also got a sneak peek into what gizmos and doohickeys that set the Royal Guard apart from its Gotei 13 counterpart (lots more to come), and a small glimpse into what will occur in the next chapter. Hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing (it was a blast for me).

While I'm on the subject of gizmos and doohickeys, I guess I should explain a bit more on how the kidō processor built into Isshin's pendulant works. It's basic principle is to take several spells and use them at the same time – something that the shinigami can do on his own, like Byakuya and Rukia (dual incantation) but with the help of the pendulant, the user is given the chance to skip most of the incantation (as you've already seen in this chapter). It also allows a three spells to be used at the same time and in some cases develop unique properties when put together. The spells Isshin used to open the hidden passage were: 'Noren Mekuri'(_Curtain Stripping_) which removes the invisibility illusion, 'Kyōmon' (_Mirror Door_)An high level force field that deflects attacks from the outside but is easy to break from the inside. And 'Sho' which is the level 1 Hadō spell, sometimes translated as '_Thrust'_ or as Bleach Wiki now states it '_Clash'_. The combination of three, along with Isshin's special incantation (which I omitted for obvious reasons) allows the barrier to be removed.

3rd A/N: I believe that's all the explaining necessary for this chapter. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. As always, reviews are review addict's best friends (metaphorically speaking, of course :p ). Hope I'll be able to update soon! (…or sooner than this time, at least, hehe.)

See you all next time!

~KuroiTori-sama

PS: That was one helluva long endnote :p


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